I found out from 3 of my male friends that when they were young and stupid, I mean really young like 8 – 16 years old, they visited a babalawo (read medicine man/ native doctor/ really-freaky-old-man-who-chants-incantations-and-spills-chicken-blood). They did this for the following reasons:

• One wanted to get back his 19,000 Naira that was stolen from his backpack at school – and no, he never found the money
• For the other one, he and his friends wanted to get more strength to beat up other guys in the neighborhood- they paid extra to get a charm that would freeze their opponents, but alas, no freezing occurred.
• And for the last one, he and his friends wanted to win a football match. They gave the medicine man a whole lot of money and still lost the match 19-6.

Can you believe that? I had no idea that some little boys had the courage to go and dabble in ritualistic stuff.